Page Summary

But we still have Ann Arbor.

Ok, time to travelogue the last of my trip to Michigan. In case you missed it, here is Part One: Detroit.

I finally transferred photos from my iPhone into the computer yesterday, and now I have post-dinner free time with enough energy.

Always a work in progress

Rotunda of the Michigan State Capitol

Picking up Sunday morning, Ang and I woke up with only minimal hangovers from the DLectricity madness of the previous evening. We packed up and left for what should have been a simple trip to Ann Arbor. However, our first errand was to stop at the new Tim Horton's down the street for coffee and breakfast sandwiches, and that tripped us up. First, Ang realized she'd left her wallet at home so she backtracked while I got in line. I tried to order for both of us and thought it was going fine, but when Ang returned we flummoxed the cashier and she screwed up both orders, requiring a refund and do-over that left me feeling like I'd gotten in trouble for ordering a bagel. Our second errand--much simpler--was to pick up Hannah, one of the MUP students in Ang's class, and we did so without incident. It was also nice to hear about her thoughts on first year of the program, including that the Expanded Horizons trip finally made it to Milwaukee.

When we arrived Ang went into her class and I took the bus down to Central Campus; Blue Buses are still super crowded but efficient. I plopped down with a pot of tea and caught up with Justin, Joe, and Edmund at Comet Coffee first; Justin's summer in Portland sounded lovely, and his recent doctoral studies sound a little crazy, but I'm glad to still have a mole inside the department either way. :) We parted from there and Joe and Edmund and I then went to Frita Batidos for lunch; I would say brunch but they don't have a brunch menu, in spite of recent rumors. The food was decent but ridiculously messy, as it always has been.

I then returned to North Campus to say bye to Ang and fetch my suitcase, then took the bus to the airport for my rental car. And may I just say to the Ann Arbor Transit Authority, NICEST BUS EVER! I easily made a reservation online, it left from the downtown bus terminal and also stopped by the mall, then went on to DTW. With wifi and super fancy seats and overhead controls and a sooper nice bus driver that had a fancy tablet to confirm your reservations. I am so glad I happened to need it. Anyhow, I got my rental car without incident and immediately went to Meijer to stock up on groceries and Michigan garb, then got a burrito before checking into my hotel to veg.

On Monday morning I got up fairly early and got on the road to continue my architecture pilgrimage to every state capitol building. Lansing is not terribly far from Ann Arbor, but I'd never had a reason to go. Now I did! I spent a couple of hours wandering around the gorgeous building with every nine-year old in the state; there are some photos behind the cut. It did have the most elaborate legislative chambers of those that I've seen, and pretty decent attention to keeping the ornamentation in good condition.

Then I drove through East Lansing to see the MSU campus on my way back and returned to have lunch with Joe and Justin. We opted for Kosmo, and I'm glad of that because I just love its randomness. Yes, you too can eat in a Korean diner nestled inside a gourmet grocery store while listening to the scruffy shorts-clad hipster boys that work there argue over who is going to take out the trash. And the beef bulgogi hit the spot, too. We got some chatter in about Joe's job, and potential places they may move after receiving respective PhDs. I spent much of my afternoon wandering around Ann Arbor and musing how little was different despite that so few people I knew still lived there, and Andy and I had a quick beer on his (chilly!) patio after he got of work. Oh, college towns. That evening was another lovely quiet night of eating Thai while wrapped in my hotel bed. Then I flew back without incident Tuesday morning.

More photos!

Few shots of the Michigan State Capitol. It's a funny shape, IMO.

Senate Chamber

Jennifer Granholm's official portrait. Fierce.

A more popular Romney than our current newsmaker

House Chamber

Cross-promotion: Every state seal is in the ceiling of the House chamber.

I need to speak to this guy about a bridge.

Detail, detail everywhere.

Kosmo bulgogi beef

Arm-sized burrito. Just because.

And for some completely different neoclassical symmetry porn: Old Main at Wayne State